Film Review: Thanks for Sharing

Directed by Stuart Bloomberg

Reviewed by Gemma Gracewood

Thanks For Sharing begins promisingly enough, with Mark Ruffalo on his knees in his undies. But that’s all the hot Ruffy action you get for the next hour or so, since it turns out he’s a sex addict in recovery. “I’ve been taking some visual drinks on the streets. Is it me or is Manhattan just one big catwalk?” he tells Tim Robbins, his sponsor. He in turn takes on a younger, very disturbingly obsessed young emergency room medic, Neil, who is banned from using the subway for, er, groinal impropriety.

Gwyneth Paltrow shows up as a too-perfect love interest for Mark, but it’s Alecia “Pink” Moore as a fixie-riding hair colourist who is the blast of fresh air here. It’s a sometimes-clever, mostly vanilla film — the PG cousin of Steve McQueen’s Shame — and stinks of script formula having been applied liberally. Why do all endings have to be happy? Why can’t they just be?

First published in Metro, November 2013.